The Neon Neuron Podcast - Episode 1 - Neon Genesis

The Neon Neuron Podcast

Episode - 01 - Neon Genesis

Welcome, neurons and neuronettes, to the first episode of the Neon Neuron Podcast! Bringing you cool things for human beings...
Neon Neuron is hard at work designing a paper model of Stocking Anarchy soon to be released. He most recently built the paper model of Ruby Rose, designed by S.V.
Nn talks about some of his own paper models, like his Famous Monsters series, based on the Misfits album of the same name. And his Rise Uppers papertoy series.
Nn discusses some of his videos on Youtube. His most popular one being a Bazooka Jules digital drawing.
We disengage the premiere episode by welcoming your comments and questions, plugs and promotions. 

Send all these to:

Neonneuron1 @ gmail.com

Neon Neuron shares the numerous places around the Neuroniverse you can find him:

www.NeonNeuron.com

Nn's home in the  Neuroniverse where you can find links to Nn art, papertoys, videos and more!

Neonneuron.blogspot.com

A place in the Neuroniverse to find out what is currently happening. What projects Nn is working on.

Facebook.com/neonneuron

A place where Nn comes to share the intelligence he has gathered around the Neuroniverse... Cool videos, amazing projects, fantastic artists and much more!

Neonengine.deviantart.com 

or 

Neonneuron.deviantart.com

A place where you can look at Nn's artwork and photos.

Youtube.com/user/Neonneuron

A place where you can find Nn's videos of inkings, studies and artistic ramblings.

Neonneuron1.tumblr.com

What do you know... More of the same! But, Tumblr is a great place to look for inspiration!

@NeonNeuron

Nn on Twitter!!

Intro Music:
Last Years Nest
Boy Sets Fire
-Tomorrow Come Today

Outro Music:
Gameboy Rock
Wizwars
-Gameboy Rock

Happy Neon Year!

Happy Neon Year!

Happy new year, everybody!

To help bring in the new year, I'm launching the 

Noble Neurons: Rise Uppers  

Papertoy, Starting with 

Neon Neuron

The guardian of our universe.

He's available for download now 

@

NeonNeuron.com

A New Mercurial Smile Comic!

A Mercurial Update!

See what I did there?

We have a sad story this week on the Mercurial Smile, but a valuable lesson.
You don't always get what you want. Yeah, that about sums it up.
If you'd really like to read it, You can find it here:

 ^Click here to go to the comics section^

^Any of these will take you to the relevant comics^

Same file, Different color?

A New Challenge has Appeared! 

I've been working on another paper toy design and just when I thought I was ready to go live with it...

This happens...

I thought the calibration between my printer, screen and Illustrator were good. Not perfect, but, good.  Until today, when I went to print and this happened. 

All three colors were off. 

This is a little frustrating when you're trying to get something right before you send it out to the public, and you have an idea in your head of what it is you want. 

The worst part now, after discovering this, is trying to figure out how this is affecting all my work. 

I had to mess with the settings in Illustrator and with my printer to get these three different color schemes. The thing is, I want the paper crafting experience to be as simple as possible. I shouldn't, nor do I want to explain to the crafter how to adjust their color or print settings because of a mistake on my end. 

Grrr!

Live an keep learning!

Trials and Tribulations of Papercrafts...

The Workbench Toolkit...

   
     I learned quite a bit about tools of the trade while working on this last project for the Paper Custodian.
   
    First thing is, the quality of paper is always questionable. A few months ago we invested a few dollars in several packages of 'premium' matte photo paper we found on clearance at the local mega-mart. The paper is superbly bright, of heavy stock and it takes ink very well. One, thing it doesn't take kindly to is glue. Glue! This is probably due to the fact that photo-papers are coated with resin of some form or another. The glue sticks more to the resin than the paper, which doesn't create an ideal bond. I notice this before because parts of my papertoys were falling off when I would rearrange or move them from one shelf to another. In the far future, I'll just buy premium card stock from a brand like Wausau.  I've used their paper in the past with great results.
   
     Second thing is, I really need to build some sort of staging area. Something in a neutral color, with a decent backdrop and good lighting. The table clothes and cutting boards have a big effect on the quality of the pictures being taken; colors being inconsistent, lighting and shadow casting obscuring folds, tabs and lines.

     Lastly, I should always keep a damp rag handy for when I need to clean off tool, my hand or messes that can cause glue to smear on the craft. While most of the globs of dried glue are not visible to the naked eye, these blemishes are very evident when photographed with a flash.

    Live and learn, isn't that what they say?


    

E(Z) Uppers! Group 1 Complete

E(Z) Uppers Series:1 Group 1 Now Complete!

Finished with the first group of the Epsilon(Zeta) Uppers!  Series:1.

There will be a few more groups coming out, all of them based of the "Fight With Tools" theme.

This toy series was inspired by many things, culture, art, society, music and politics. I wanted to create something with a message, rather than something that just looks  cool. 

I also wanted to have something that anyone can build. Something "easy", which is where the name Epsilon(Zeta) originates. And, at the same time create something that could be easily relatable by everyone. 

I tried to incorporate a small bit of customization, so people can switch and combine elements from each toy. The hair, the faces, the accessories and the tools. So, while we have the Artist, the Musician, the Technologist, the Conservationist and the Laborer, you can easily trade and change items based on your own preferences and make each one unique.

This was, in effect, the culmination of that desire.

Don't just occupy space, Utilize Space!

Here we see how you can change the hair form one to another. There will be more hairstyles with the future releases. So, that's something to look forward. I also encourage customizing on the fly, make your own, DIY. Don't let these toys inhibit your creativity, utilize them a jump-off point into something else! Make your own tools.

E(Z) Uppers Series 1:"Fight With Tools"

Download NOW

@

Neon Neuron

E(Z) Uppers! Laborer Now Available!

  You Are Not Your Job!

You Deserve

Living Wage! Health Care!

If You Don't Do their Dirty Work, Who Will?

You Are The Backbone Of This Country

And

They Need To Know it!

How do YOU fight? What are YOUR tools?

R.U. Ready to RISE UP?

 

E(Z) Uppers Series 1:"Fight With Tools" the second couple.

Download NOW

@

Neon Neuron

Minor Update: Finally some links in the chain!

Neon Neuron: Updates!

So, it has been a couple weeks with very little on the updates, with papercrafts, arts and other things. Today, though, I was able to get some links added to the website link page!

Check it:

Pretty cool right? I hope so.
We got here, the "Cool Places" list.
If you need a place to go, surfing the net all aimless and bored, you can head to one of these inspiring links and have your head filled with amazing, wondrous things! Kinda' like Willy's chocolate factory...but, with paper!

I'm not trying to sell you a lemon!

Speaking of trying to sell lemons...
I've been using AdWords to see if it could help generate some extra income, which from a business perspective is the smart thing to do. However, I've been looking at some of the ads that are circulating on my blogs and I don't really feel like these products, items or services best represent what I believe in.
Basically, I don't want to try and sell something I wouldn't buy myself.
I'll be removing Adwords from all my pages, and in the process, losing a bunch of earning potential. It's a huge risk, but, I feel it's a necessary one to stay true to the Neon Neuron ideals.
Stay true, Peeps!
Michael P., Artist

/E(Z) Upper Release 7/20

E(Z) Uppers Launch Postponed

Well, Bad news. 

After what I thought were the final templates, the last build shows that they still need a bit more tweaking to help solidify the design and help the toys live up to their namesake. I' m postponing the release for one more week to work this out.

There's really a lot of work that goes into designing papercraft. From planning to final product, there is a lot of building in between. And that is the time consuming part. It's fun building a model for the first time, but, after the ump-teenth time, there is very little joy. It is a patience builder for sure because it's really easy to just want to get it done and become sloppy, but accuracy is what you need to achieve in order to produce a quality toy.

I am happy with the way the toy looks when fully built, I just want to make sure "YOU" the builder enjoy the building. Take a look at the  final products.

Meet the Models

On the left we have the Musician. He's rocking a Fender Strat and a Boy Sets Fire shirt. He also has a stylish watch and studded bracelet. His weapon is hard hitting music that penetrates to the core, ideas of brotherhood and unity.

On the right we have the Artist. She's wearing a DIY "Question Authority" shirt, a checker sweat band on on arm, and an anarchy wrist watch on the other. She has a sketchbook where she keeps all her best laid plans, schemes and dreams to bring down the tyrannical oppressors of the people.

Look for them

On 7/20

@

Neon Neuron

Paper-proofing Final Phase

Initiate launch Sequence>Epsilon(Zeta) Series 1:Fight With Tools

E(Z) Uppers: Fight With Tools is almost ready to launch. Final paper-proofs are currently underway. Here is an idea of what the first official release will look like:

This series will feature all sorts of switchable items and accessories! Change up hair and faces, mix and match accessories like bracelets, hats, belts and glasses.

There will be five(5) groups of at least five(5) characters per group. Each character will feature individual accessories and a "tool" of choice for fighting tyranny, fascism, despotism and all around abuse of power anywhere individual rights and freedom are being neglected.

The Creation...Process.

Creating the E(Z) Upper

So, there is a lot going on right here, right now. I did a test build on the new toy ad while I'm pleased with the result this far, I see some areas that can still be  improved one before I release it to the two or three people who are interested.

The above image  shows some of the ares which need attention. While building the "paper-proof", I become aware of 1) the things I need to fix, and 2) the things I can change. Let's address the first.

I need to fix certain things for aesthetic and design reasons. An example would be the hair. I really want the hair to frame the face more, make the sides longer so it has a natural look, not like she is wearing a wig.

With this same example, I can change the hair by making it separate from the head. Like...A wig! Incorporating the wig idea, I can make a customizable toy that can be changed to the builders enjoyment.

This does two things for me. First, it refreshes my enthusiasm about the project, and second, it doubles my project time. Which, as an adverse effect, lowers my enthusiasm, again. 

But, I am so enamored of this new idea, that enthusiasm or no, I am willing to proceed. In fact, I am going to proceed.

So, I say to the two or three people who are following this process so far...

Your patience is greatly appreciated.

A New Mercurial Smile Comic Page!

Mercurial Update!

We've added another page to the never ending and excruciatingly slow saga of Mercurial Smile! In this episode, we see the inner workings of our humble narrator. But, what are those curious little beings that   have come to repair those inner works and is that guy floating?! 

Find out this and more only

@

Neon Neuron

Neon Neuron: Small Update

What's New!

I'll tell you what's new! Just a little image to go 'round the home page slide show. Yeah, that's all. It also links to the download page so you can download and customize our new toy, Epsilon(Zeta) Upper. A series will be out in the future, but, until then you really should check it out for yourself!

Alot of Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Bringing home the "Smile"

Well, now!
It's been sometime, hasn't it?
But, we have a few things new to celebrate...if that becomes the case.
We've moved one of our blog-comics (Mercurial smile) to the Home-site, and now it's a sorta' web-comic, I guess. But, we'll be keeping the blog for updating purposes and who knows...maybe a "work in progress" blog, so's you can see the process and all.

We've brought music back to the Main page, too, and would like to thank Boy Sets Fire for that!

We've also got something new in the works, but, more on that later, right now, you should head over to Neon Neuron and read comics and download some papertoys!

We are back!

Neon Neuron is live and in full effect!

Check out the new layout and have a look around.

Download some papertoys and read our latest comic!
We have the amazing Neon Engine:Retro papertoy for all to download!
Neon Engine is a robot that helps maintain order and balance around the multiple universe
and now, you can have your very own!

Tomorrow, at last!

RUN:ignition...

Website Update!

Neon Neuron.com is updating!

The website will updated soon! A few more tweaks and modifications and we'll be up and running. We'll also be bringing back a hard working Neon!

Stay tuned for more updates!

While you slept on 12/21/12

While You Slept

A Comic of Earthly Proportion!

I originally opened the Neon Neuron website as a flash-site, until I became aware of the limitations of a flash only website. This was a comic I released for the the flash only. It's now hosted at my DeviantArt page.

     This is a silly story on why the world didn't end on 12/21/13 or any other dooms day, for that matter. 

Keeping Earth safe is no easy task, what with all the dangers floating around space and making trouble for everyone: Aliens, dopplegangers and asteroids. How is a Neuron to get any rest?

Construction Time Again

  

Construction Time Again

Okay, There are all kinds of wrong going on in this image. I know this because it was pointed out to me by the guys on PencilJack. 

     

     I would Like to take a moment and give a shout-out to PencilJack and P-Jackers. If you need help with a piece you are working on, need some outside eyes or encouragement, PencilJack is the place to go. 

     The perspective is on two different planes; Neon Engine being on one and the Custodian on another.  And, I was talking about about contrast in the last post, but, maybe this is too much contrast.

     I don't even know why I posted this. 

Anyway...Pencil Jack. Check it out!

A Hard Day's Night...

The Custodian. 

There could have been more contrast in this image. The strongest points right now are all the bright colored areas; the shirt, sleeves, soles and the obnoxiously yellow wall. Oh, and his hair. The other colors are really flat. The blue jeans and red jacket are probably the same value. Blegh! Very boring. 

     Things could easily become more interesting just by adjusting the contrast and saturation. I mean, just look at the space background. Very cosmic! Even the Custodian (who has obviously undergone some extreme aging) seems to pop against the darkness around his head.

Now if we take a look at a grayscale of the image, below, we see how boring things really are even when the saturation was given a little bump. There is just to much gray in or near the same values. This picture needs a major overhaul. Balance comes to mind. Perfect balance.